(Newser)
–
Kim Jong-Il is probably in the hospital but still calling the shots, Japanese PM Taro Aso says, citing intelligence reports and adding that if the North Korean leader were incoherent, "we would be seeing different developments." A Japanese professor returning from Pyongyang says North Koreans are calm, a sign that Kim is not as gravely ill as the world suspects, reports AFP. He adds that, should the leader's condition worsen, the military seems prepared to step in and preserve the regime.